Areas of concentration increase scholarly activity: a 15-month experience.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires family medicine residencies to demonstrate scholarly activity. A 6-year survey of resident scholarly activity at our residency revealed one regional presentation. We adopted an additional scholarly activty curriculum based on the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD) Areas of Concentration (AOC) proposal. Residents submitted proposals detailing learning objectives, desired electives, continuing medical education opportunities, and scholarly activity plans. Six of seven PGY-3 residents and seven of seven PGY-2 residents chose the AOC track. In 15 months, residents completed 12 publications or regional conference presentations. AOC tracks can encourage resident scholarly activity and fulfill intellectual curiosity.